investor-state disputes | ISDS

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) refers to a way of handling conflicts under international investment agreements whereby companies from one party are allowed to sue the government of another party. This means they can file a complaint and seek compensation for damages. Many BITs and investment chapters of FTAs allow for this if the investor’s expectation of a profit has been negatively affected by some action that the host government took, such as changing a policy. The dispute is normally handled not in a public court but through a private abritration panel. The usual venues where these proceedings take place are the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (World Bank), the International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law or the International Court of Justice.

ISDS is a hot topic right now because it is being challenged very strongly by concerned citizens in the context of the EU-US TTIP negotiations, the TransPacific Partnership talks and the CETA deal between Canada and the EU.

EurActiv | 10-Mar-2016
Progress was made in the latest round of TTIP talks, but negotiators have a long way to go if the deal is to be signed before Barack Obama leaves office.
Rabble | 10-Mar-2016
More than 2,000 people marched in Lima, Peru in opposition to the government’s plan to privatize public water services.
Diagonal Periódico | 9-Mar-2016
Hablamos con la activista estadounidense Melinda ST. Louis sobre el Acuerdo Transatlántico para el Comercio y la Inversión (TTIP) y su visión desde el otro lado del Atlántico.
EurActiv | 9-Mar-2016
Paris would like to “copy-paste” key passages from the EU-Canada free trade agreement, concluded this week, particularly those relating to the arbitration court that is such a controversial issue in Europe.
EurActiv | 8-Mar-2016
Paris souhaiterait « copier-coller » certains passages clés de l’accord de libre-échange conclu cette semaine entre l’Union européenne et le Canada, notamment ceux relatifs à la cour d’arbitrage tant décriée en Europe.
Nueva Tribuna | 7-Mar-2016
Tribunales privados de arbitraje podrán imponer multas multimillonarias a los Estados cuyos parlamentos hayan osado legislar sin tener en cuenta las expectativas de las empresas.
The Globe and Mail | 7-Mar-2016
This is one of the problems with this regime of investor rights. It confers enormous discretion on an elite corps of lawyers.
Todd N. Tucker | 7-Mar-2016
A research provides a set of pragmatic tools for governments on the receiving end of legal claims.
Público | 4-Mar-2016
La Comisión presentó este lunes el nuevo mecanismo de resolución de disputas entre inversores y estados en el CETA, una suerte de blindaje para las multinacionales que les permite demandar a los países en los que inviertan si consideran truncadas sus "expectativas de ganancias" por cambios normativos o legales efectuados por los estados.
Asia One | 4-Mar-2016
Singapore has moved quickly to sign an investment treaty with oil-rich Iran to support Singapore firms investing in an economy that is emerging after the recent lifting of global sanctions.